Time for your baby to start solids? As a mother and a nutritionist, you know that I’m going to say that there’s lots of good reasons to make your own baby food. I’ve worked out at least six darn good reasons but I’m sure there’s more. Here’s why I believe making your own is better for your baby:

1. You can grade the texture from a smooth puree to a coarser blend to just fork-mashed family fare depending on the age and stage of your baby or toddler. Chewing and learning to swallow lumpy food is good for babies and is an important step in the development of talking, growing their teeth and using their mouths.

2. Your own is inexpensive. Baby purees made at home cost a fraction of the price of ready-made foods

3. You know exactly what’s in the food you’re giving to your bub and there’s no hidden salt, sugar, thickeners or additives of any sort.

4. You can introduce one food at a time watching for any reaction which is important if you come from a family with a history of food allergy or food intolerance.

5. You get so much more flavour from fresh food.

6. You know that the ingredients are fresh and healthy which is high in for vitamin C, folate and minerals.

Like many other tasks today, the trick is to be organised and cook in batches to save time. My ‘babies’ are young adults now but I still like to recommend a freezer which preserves the maximum nutrition and flavour. For your bub, simply cook, puree and spoon into ice cube trays (the largish ones) to whip up small portions of pureed pumpkin, pureed zucchini or pureed chicken and potato. Once done, pop into your freezer and freeze for later.

Making your own

Making your own is not nearly as time consuming as you might think! Here three super-starter purees:

Avocado

Start with a soft fully-ripe avocado. Slice in half, remove the stone and spoon the soft flesh into a bowl. You can either mash it with a fork or puree it in a food processor, thinning it down with a little breast milk or formula. Once your baby is older, you can just spoon its creamy flesh straight into your baby’s mouth! Our son LOVED avocado when he was a toddler and it was so handy and easy to carry around. I’d buy the small ones for when we went out.

Banana

Like avocados, bananas have to be the ultimate easy no-cook baby food. I’ve never met a bub who didn’t like bananas. They’re soft, sweetish and easy to swallow. No gluten, dairy or other problematic foods. Easy to transport and fork mash.

Pumpkin, potatoes, carrots or zucchini

These are great starter foods but need to be cooked until soft before being mashed or pureed. Once boiled, you can push them through a strainer or whirl in a food processor, adding some of the cooking water or breast milk to create the desired consistency. Later, you can just fork-mash to get the right consistency.

Note: your cooked pureed food can be stored in the refrigerator for two days. Vegetables and fruits can be frozen for one month, while cooked pureed meats can last for two months in a domestic freezer.

Commercial pre-made baby foods

There’s nothing wrong with most of the commercial baby foods whether in jars, cans or pouches. They are pretty well all made with no added sugar or salt or additives and with a combination of foods and textures that are suitable for each age and stage. Commercial baby food does have its winning points. For example:

• They’re handy for when you’re out or when you’re travelling or if you don’t have access to a kitchen. Easy to include in your family’s emergency kit.

• Someone else has done the work of cooking and blending and it’s all ready to eat and serve which saves heaps of time and effort.

• If your baby refuses to eat any or spits it out, you’re not going to cry too much.

But bought baby food does tend to have a “sameness” to it – at least the stuff in the supermarkets does. I’ve been sent some really upmarket gourmet baby food by chefs in recent months and that’s a completely different market. Yes, they tick all the boxes but somehow the flavours still seems to meld together.

At the end of the day …

Every mum has a lot on her plate, so don’t make it more stressful for yourself than you have to. I suggest using the 80:20 rule, which has always served us well in life. It goes like this – 80 percent of the time you cook your own and 20 percent of the time you use commercial products. If you follow that logic, your baby’s diet will be a healthy one.

Breastfeeding is best for babies and provides many benefits. Combined breast and bottle feeding in the first weeks of life may reduce the supply of your own breast milk. Always consult your doctor, midwife or health care professional for advice about feeding your baby. This post is part of the Early Life Nutrition story.